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Old soviet made anvil


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Hi there.

First some background so you know where I'm coming from. I'm new to this forum an to smithing. I've been doing a lot of reading on the forums and other sites lately to learn more. Now I have finally begun gathering equipment to get started.

Used anvils in good condition are hard to come by in finland these days and the market for new ones is small and they are expensive.

My co-worker has an old russian, probably soviet era anvil he is willing to part with. It's nearly 100kg and almost pristine but there are small dents from hammer (maybe 7) on the face. Should I be worried about the dents. I mean how easily anvils normally get dented? Is the face too soft or is this normal? He is asking 500€ for it with a good wooden stand. (to put that into perspective, a new 40kg anvil is around 650€).

To tell the truth I'm a bit jealous of you americans since used anvils seem to be a lot more common and cheaper around there.

Thanks in advance.

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Hello, welcome to the forum.

Can you get pictures of the anvil?

Personally I wouldn't be too concerned about the dents. Unless they are very deep they shouldn't bother you too much.

With a new anvil I often hit the face with a hammer, somewhere you won't notice like near the tip of the heel. That gives you an idea of how hard the face is.
A beginner will miss strike and hit the face occasionally but that's all part of the process.

The price to me sounds a little high, talking him down a bit won't hurt. Ultimately though a 100kg anvil will serve you perfectly well for the entirety of your smithing career, 500€ doesn't seem like so much over the course of many many years.

Assuming you can afford it I'd say just go for it.

All the best
Andy

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If it passes the rebound test then are the dents something to worry about?  If they are deeper than the hammer marks you will leave in your work then they may be something to be concerned about, but most of the time they are not.  I feel your pain about anvils, in some parts of the States they are very common, in others (like mine) they are much harder to find.  The funny thing is, once you get your first others start showing up. :rolleyes:

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I intend to be there! 26 year old pickup with no cruise control and lots of wind noise notwithstanding (thinking about getting a radio/cd player but sure hate to spend the money when I could buy *STUFF* at Q-S with it...trying to convince my beloved spouse that it would be needed safety equipment and so should not come out of my Q-S funds...)

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I didn't think to take pictures when I went to take a look at the anvil. Didn't get to try rebound either since there wasn't a hammer around in the old barn. But he told me that the anvil rings like a bell when hit, so that should tell something.

I got an offer for another similar anvil for half the price. But the face on that has been grinded with angle grinder very recently. That may just be for removing surface rust. But it appears to have been done with a coarse disc. I'd post a picture but I'm not at my home computer at the moment and my phone can't handle images of that size. Should I pass the cheaper anvil on the account of the grindmarks on it? It is a 500km drive both ways to get aswell.

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Welcome aboard, glad to have you. If you think finding decent blacksmithing tools in Finland is a challenge you ought to try it in Alaska USA, most anything here is several times the price found in the lower 48.

 

You don't need a hammer to do a rebound test, a ball bearing is as good or better. The sound isn't as good an indicator as lots of folk think though it will help with some aspects of doing a survey of an anvil's condition. The technique is simple, using a bearing around 13mm dia. simply drop it and estimate the percentage of rebound, (how high it bounces.) I use my hand to gauge the height and rebound. 75% is okay, more than 80% is pretty good up to excellent.

 

Spread the bearing test around on the anvil to determine the face's condition. Directly over the waist in the center of the face will have the best rebound, the edges will be less, the heal will have the least and next to the step will be better than the heal but less than the face in general. For example, say you're dropping from 20cm. and the rebound is returning the bearing 15 cm. Okay anvil, if it's returning in the 18cm. range it's a GOOD one. Now suppose there's a place on the face the bearing only returns 5cm. That's a dead spot and indicates the high carbon steel face plate has delaminated from the anvil's body. This is a BAD thing.

 

I carry a small ball pein hammer under the seat of all our vehicles and if I'm garage saling I put a 1/2" (13mm) bearing in my pocket in case I run across an anvil.

 

How the sound can tell you things about the anvil face. Some anvil's don't ring, they're designed not to and they're top end anvils. Fisher being probably the best known anvil maker here in the states. What you're looking and listening for is a change in the note of the ring whether it rings like an insanely loud bell or just says clank. The sound should be pretty consistent over the entire anvil face with expected differences in note depending on where it's rung. Over the waist where the rebound is greatest the ring is weakest, on the horn it's going to be louder as will the heal. What you're listening for is dead areas, if it's saying clank and suddenly says clunk you've found a dead spot and that's a BAD thing.

 

Be aware that rebound and sound testing are only reliable on a clean face, dirt and rust will deaden or muffle the sound as it will the rebound so wipe it off at least. A layer of paint can completely damp the rebound and ring. If a seller isn't willing to chip the paint off I lose interest unless the price is really good. I explain why the value has dropped so dramatically and I see what happens. Some folk don't want you even looking closely so I go away.

 

Frosty The Lucky.

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Note that prices for anvils in England make us Yanks jealous  and you are not that far from there...


Hehe. I've seen better anvils go for prices so cheap that would make you guys cry. If only I could sort out shipping and I'd be firing them over all the time.
My first anvil was £10.50 or $17 :p

Granted that PW of mine was £200 all told. $331 ($1.26 per lb)

For some reason the price per pound is not something that occurs over here. Prices over on mainland Europe are scary high!

Failed Attempt, get us some pics when you get it. :)

Andy
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Anvil.jpg

 

Well there it is. Looks like any other russian anvil. I expect the quality to be russian aswell, as in "not very good". But that remains to be seen after I get to clean it up. The EP on it is the mark of the previous owner. I'll probably post more and better photos in the anvil thread. Also 3 200l drums scored from work.  :)

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  • 1 year later...

Hi Lumb3rJack and welcome to IFI!

There are a whole bunch of guys here on IFI from down under, maybe they can help you, just add your location to your proflie.

The first rule of finding an anvil is that everything can be an anvil and forget the London pattern. Find a scrapyard and buy an old big shaft, gring its surface straight put it in a big bowl of dirt an hit some hot iron ot it. Buy a big chunk of any kind of steel put it on a stump or whatever and hit some hot iron on it. Or buy a big (10kg) hammerhead secure it on a stump - maybe a hole in the stump will help - and start hitting hot iron on it. I mean it's the hitting hot iron is the part to focus on. Better anvils will come by later.

Well and TPAAT is a global technique search IFI for the how to :)

Best of luck and happy hammering!

Gergely

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